AN: I'm sorry if this chapter is a piece of crap! I'm sick so my writing's not at it's best...please enjoy!
"OW! BE CARFUL, Sheryl!"
"Now, now, don't make a fuss, Wisely," Sheryl said, in that annoying simpering way of his, "I'm doing the best I can!"
Wisely winced. The wound that that exorcist had inflicted on him still hadn't completely healed. Well, he though, at least I inflicted massive damage on her too. Wisely had been bed-ridden for a week now because the injury had been dealt by the innocence.
"Wisely, are you okay?" Road came into the room and sat on the edge of Wisely's bed.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just in pain," he said.
"Well that's to be expected," The earl had followed Road into the room, looking at Wisely with concern. "She really got you." He said
Wisely nodded, "At least I landed a pretty good hit on her, though."
The earl grinned, "Yes, you'd never go down quietly."
"Earl, I'm glad you're here," Sheryl said as he finished bandaging Wisely wounds.
"What is it, Sheryl, dear?"
Sheryl handed the earl a file, "The reason we couldn't awaken Alma that time is because of the information in there. The data we didn't have at the time."
The earl flipped open the file and began reading it aloud:
The DNA source for Kanda Yu and Alma Karma's regeneration abilities was a young girl by the name of Kuroumi Yoruko. She was brought to the order in the middle of the second exorcist project research. Her DNA was the key to the strengthening of the bodies needed to synchronize with the innocence.
On top of all this, the girl was also an accommodator. She fought for headquarters for about five years before she was killed on a mission to Scotland.
The rest of the file contained details of the project. The earl didn't need to read this, though; he already knew all of it.
"So we needed this girl's memories on top of Kanda Yu's…"
"If she's dead, though," Sheryl said, "that means it's completely useless to try and awaken Alma."
"Maybe not," Road said, "Wisely and I were in Scotland when he got injured. It could be possible that the girl we fought was this Kuroumi girl."
"Is there a picture?" Wisely said, "Even if it's from that long ago, we'll still be able to tell if it's the right person."
The earl handed Wisely the two thumbnails that had come in the files. The first was of a girl around eight years of age. Wisely and Road recognized her instantly, despite the shorter hair and younger face. I was the exorcist who had fought them alongside Lenalee in Scotland.
"Definitely her," He said. Handing the first picture back to the earl and taking a look at the second. The figure was in their early teens. Their hair was cut in the male fashion, with bangs swept over the left eye. Had it not been for the feminine look in the eyes, he would have thought that this was a picture of the girl's brother.
"What are you all looking at?" Tyki strode into the room.
"Just the reason why we couldn't awaken Alma." Wisely said, annoyed.
Tyki took a look at the pictures. The first one he didn't really care about, it was when he saw the second that his eyes widened.
"Hey, I know this kid."
"You do?!" the all asked in unison.
Tyki nodded, "I killed him around four years ago."
"In Scotland?" Wisely asked.
"Are you sure?" Road inquired.
"You're positive it was a boy?" Sheryl cut in.
"Y-yeah," Tyki replied, a little taken aback, "Why?"
"Well this is certainly interesting," the earl said with his usual grin. Then, in answer to Tyki's confused expression, "This exorcist is alive, Tyki-pon, Wisely and Road confirmed it for us."
"You're kidding," Tyki said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"No worries, this is actually a good thing," The earl said, "We now have both the keys to awakening young Alma. We just need to collect them all."
"Well… that's if the damage Wisely inflicted wasn't fatal." Sheryl said.
"I doubt it was," the earl said, "After all, this girl's DNA is what gave Alma and the second their regeneration abilities."
"And look," Road said, pointing out of the window, "She's right there!"
They all, except Wisely, rushed to the window. Sure enough, Yoru was walking down the street, chatting animatedly with Allen, Lavi, and Bookman. None of the Noah looking down at them were as shocked as Tyki, though.
"Wait…HE…NO…SHE'S A WOMAN?!"
"And a cute one at that," Sheryl said, "Such a shame she's an exorcist."
"Tyki," the earl said, "Care to put some of that gentleman's charm to use? You might be able to find out her weakness."
Tyki sighed and walked out of the door, resigned to the fact that this was not going to go well.
"You're uniform looks good on you, Yoru-chan," Lavi said.
"Th-thanks," Yoru said, blushing. Her uniform consisted of black pants that flared out below the knee with slits cut into the sides (of the flared area) for easier mobility. Red stripes ran up their sides and around the hem. On top, she wore a sleeveless version of the jacket and on her arms she wore detached sleeves that fastened around her upper arms (An: If any of you have seen the Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku, then use that as your reference.). Over all this, Yoru wore an overcoat, hooded and emblazoned with the order's crest.
"Are you excited for your first mission?" Allen asked as they walked down the street. They had been assigned to investigate the disappearances of several young children in the area.
Yoru grinned, "Are you kidding? Of course I'm excited! I haven't been on a mission in four years, it feels great."
Their moment of happiness was cut short by the appearance of a tall figure wearing a coat and tails while sporting an elegant top hat. Tyki Mikk had just exited the large townhouse they were currently passing.
He tipped his hat to them, "Good afternoon, exorcists," he said, "fancy seeing you here."
"What are you doing here, Tyki Mikk," Allen asked, stiffly.
"My brother and I happen to live here, thank you very much." Tyki said, gesturing at the townhouse, "It's the beginning of the season, you know."
"The what?" Allen asked, confused.
"The season," Yoru interjected, "The time of year where nobles leave their country estates and come to stay in the city. It's a time where they socialize with other nobles by means of various balls and such."
"Exactly!" Tyki said, "You certainly know a lot, miss…to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking."
"The kid you tried to kill four years ago." Yoru said icily, making Allen and Lavi jump in surprise.
"HE'S THE ONE?!" they cried in unison. Yoru just nodded in response, glaring at Tyki, who smirked.
"So you remember," He replied, "Well, I must say, I was surprised to hear that you were actually a woman." He gave her a good look up and down, "You look a lot different now."
"What do you want?" Lavi said, gripping his hammer.
"Now, you don't want to make a scene here, do you?" Tyki said, grinning sinisterly.
"He's right." Lavi and Allen looked in shock at Bookman, who had spoken, "He's a noble, if we threaten him, who knows what will happen."
"Old man! Is this really the time?" Lavi cried.
"Lavi-san," Yoru said, "Bookman's right, we're not in a position to attack. Furthermore, we have a mission." She walked straight passed Tyki, not looking at him. She hated the guy's guts, why bother mingling with him any further?
They left and Tyki returned to the townhouse, "No go on the charm," he said and went off to the library, leaving the earl to think of another way to find the girl's weakness.
"This is the address," Yoru said, looking up at the townhouse in front of them. She turned to the others, "before we continue with this mission, can you all promise me something?"
Allen and the others nodded.
"Don't tell Kanda who tried to kill me."
"Why?" Link asked. Yoru honestly didn't like the caretaker, not only was he in central, he was annoying as hell.
"Because," She said, "He's got enough to deal with and I don't want him doing anything reckless."
They all nodded and Yoru proceeded to knock on the door. It was opened by a smartly dressed butler.
"Can I help you?" he asked, dryly.
"We're with the Black Order," Allen said, "Lady Blackwell summoned us."
"Ah, yes, the Black Order," The butler lead them into the entrance hall, "One moment please." He disappeared through one of the doors. A few minutes later he reappeared saying, "The lady will see you now."
They were escorted into a study; Sitting by the fire was a middle-aged woman. When she looked up, they saw that her eyes were red from crying. Seeing the exorcists she smiled watery.
"Oh, thank goodness you've come!" She said.
"Lady Blackwell," Yoru said, kneeling down by the poor woman, "The quickest way to find your son is if we get right to the details. When did he go missing?"
"About three days ago," Lady Blackwell sniffed, "But before that, he kept having dreams."
"What sort of dreams?" Allen asked.
"He said he saw children playing, following a slightly older child, playing a violin. He then said that the boy and children seemed to be calling to him, asking him to come with him."
"That sounds like the pied piper story," Lavi said.
"I'm not very familiar with western fairytales," Yoru said, "What's that one about?"
"It's about a man who promised to help a village rid themselves of a rat infestation. When he had done the deed, the village refused to pay his as they had promised. So he came back and lured away their children, who were never heard from again."
"You have the most morbid fairytales." Yoru said, "Though that does sound a lot like what's going on here."
Lady Blackwell clutched Yoru's hands, sobbing, "Please! Find my son!" she cried.
"Don't worry, Lady Blackwell," Allen said, smiling gently, "We'll find him and bring him back to you."
When they left the townhouse, they saw Kanda waiting outside.
"What're you doing here?" Yoru asked in surprise.
"Komui wanted me to switch out with Lavi and Bookman," He said, then looking at the aforementioned bookmen, "The chief said he needs you to meet up with Lenalee on a different mission. One that requires a bookman's brain. Something about a library…"
"We're on it!" Lavi said enthusiastically, just say the word 'book' and he was there.
"I did some investigating on my own," Kanda said as they walked through the city streets, "And I heard the same thing you did. The children all reported having the same dream before going missing."
"Lavi-san said it sounded a lot like the pied piper story," Yoru said.
"Yeah, more so than I originally though," Kanda replied, " I did a little research at the archives. Evidently, there was a case where a famous violinist was falsely accused of murder and on the day of his execution he claimed he would get revenge against those who had wrongly held him responsible. The families with missing children were all connected with the case in some way or another."
"So you think the innocence resurrected him?" Allen asked.
"It's possible."
"Hmm…have the children from every family involved been abducted?" Yoru asked.
"No, there's still one more family."
Yoru nodded, "Alright, let's go see them."
Yoru, Kanda, Allen, and Link stood outside of a magnificent townhouse. It belonged to the de Winter family, the family that had originally accused the violinist of the murder he did not commit. Kanda rang the bell and a maid in a scandalously short skirt opened the door.
"Welcome to the de Winter house, how may I help you?" she had a French accent… well at least that explained the skirt. (AN: THIS IS SOLELY BASED OFF OF FRENCH MAID COSTUMES. Trust me, I've been to France, they don't dress like this.)
"We need to speak to the lord of the house," Link said, looking disapprovingly at the way the maid was so liberally dressed. Showing her legs like that, he thought, so shameless.
"Oui, Oui! This way, this way," The maid led them into the house an up to a library.
"Mon seigneur," she said as she opened the door, "You have guests."
"Thank you, Catherine, you may go now," The man who'd been sitting, reading a book, up till this point, got up and greeted the exorcists. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing the Black Order in my house?"
"Sir, we have reason to believe that the next child to go missing in this city will be yours." Kanda said, bluntly.
"Why on earth would you think that?" Lord de Winter asked, shocked.
"The families of the missing children are connected through the execution of one person." Allen said, "The violinist, Erik Bruckenstein, he was accused of…"
"Murdering my wife." De Winter sighed, "Yes, I know now it was a mistake, we found the real criminal last year. You have no idea how much I regret what I did."
"Lord de Winter," Yoru said, "You're the only person who hasn't lost their child yet. We'll help you by doing everything we can to help protect them."
De Winter nodded, "In that case…Kitty! Bring Evangeline here!" a few minutes later Kitty came back, escorting a young woman around fifteen or sixteen years of age. Upon laying eyes on Kanda, the girl was immediately stricken. When she saw Yoru, though, a wave of jealousy washed over her.
She curtsied, "Yes, daddy?"
"Evangeline, these are representatives from the Black Order," de Winter said, gesturing at the Link and the exorcists, "They're here to protect you. You may choose one as your bodyguard."
"May I ask your names?" Evangeline asked in annoyingly girlish voice.
"Allen Walker."
"Howard Link."
"Kanda Yu."
"Kuroumi Yoru."
"hmm…then…Kanda-san?" she asked. Kanda looked annoyed, he had been praying she wouldn't choose him, he really didn't want to babysit her. Yoru giggled, she knew this would happen, but seeing the expression on Kanda's face was priceless. He rounded on her.
"You saw this coming." He growled in Japanese.
"Yep!" Yoru replied, outright laughing this time, "You should've seen your face!"
"Are you two…siblings?" Evangeline said, sincerely hoping that the answer was yes.
"Hell no!" Kanda said, speaking in English again, "I'd have disowned her by now if that was the case."
"That's nice," Yoru said, sarcastically, but still smiling, then, turning to Evangeline, "We're childhood friends."
"I see…" She was disappointed, it would be hard to win her darling Kanda-sama over with this girl around. She turned to her father, "Papa, wouldn't it be best for Kuroumi-san to keep an eye on Ashton and have Walker-san and Link-san patrol the house?"
"Quick as whip, you are!" de Winter said proudly, "That sounds like a fine idea!"
Evangeline then practically dragged Kanda out of the room.
Yoru knocked on the door to Evangeline's room. Unfortunately, Kanda wasn't the one who answered.
"What do you want?" she asked, "You're supposed to be taking care of Ashton!"
"I am, but the doctor and your father are with him now," Yoru replied coolly, " I need to talk to Kanda.
"What is it?" Kanda said, coming to the door and moving Evangeline out of the way.
"Keep an eye on the windows, It's the most likely place for the kidnapper to enter. Oh, and de Winter says if you do anything immoral to his daughter, he'll skin you alive."
"No worries there," Kanda said, then in Japanese, "Want to trade? She hasn't left me alone at all!"
"No way, I can tell she hates me, and you hate kids," Yoru replied, also in Japanese, "Ashton's the same age as Timothy and he's not in the best of health. I think it's better that I'm watching him." Yoru then said goodbye and headed back to her charge's room and Kanda was pulled back into Evageline's.